Healthcare leaders on busting AI myths

Healthcare leaders are moving quickly on AI — but many believe the biggest risk isn’t that the technology falls short. It’s that organizations overestimate what AI can do on its own and underestimate what it takes to make it work safely, at scale and inside real workflows. 

According to many healthcare leaders who spoke with Becker’s, better models automatically produce better outcomes. The path to impact runs through governance, data discipline, workflow redesign, cybersecurity rigor and human accountability — with AI delivering the most value when it’s embedded, trusted and measured, not flashy.

The leaders featured below are speaking at Becker’s 11th Annual Health IT + Digital Health + RCM Conference, Sept. 14-17, 2026, at the Hilton Chicago.

If you would like to join the event as a speaker, please contact Scott King at sking@beckershealthcare.com.

As part of an ongoing series, Becker’s is connecting with healthcare leaders who will speak at the event to get their perspectives on key issues in the industry.

Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Question: What’s the biggest myth in healthcare AI?

Brian Dilcher, MD. Associate Professor, Director of Clinical Informatics in Emergency Medicine and Associate CMIO for WVU Medicine (Morgantown, W.Va.): To me, the biggest myth in healthcare AI is that it serves as a panacea for all the challenges clinicians face. While AI can meaningfully improve many administrative and operational processes, it cannot resolve the underlying systemic issues that shape our daily reality in clinical practice — emergency department boarding and overcrowding, well intentioned but burdensome regulations, limited social services, insufficient support for our aging population and concerns about workplace safety, among others. These problems require collective societal commitment and policy-level change. AI can support us, but it cannot replace the need to prioritize the conditions that allow physicians to care for our communities effectively.